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Why All the Rules? Part One
Imagine that you’re at your friends’ house, and their adorable little girl is wreaking havoc in the living room. She’s dumped her bowl of sodden Cheerios on her head, and the milk is streaming down her body onto the antique Persian rug. Legos and beheaded dolls are strewn over every surface. She’s babbling and singing at the top of her lungs, making it impossible to carry on a conversation. Worst of all, she’s diabolically pulling on the cat’s tail. Yet your friend sits there sipping her coffee, blissfully unconcerned. If no rules are laid down, has the child misbehaved? The Bible teacher who took my faith life from trying to…
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First Chapter Monday – Pride of Babylon
I’m waiting on the FINAL proof, but here’s a peek! Chapter One Hillah, Former Ottoman Empire April 1917 Ana Before the British troop transport truck shuddered to a halt, Ana Brown jumped to her feet. Hillah, a humble village made significant by the nearby archeological excavation, hummed with activity. She itched to join the bustle of the street below and push thoughts of Vernon Capehart out of her mind—again. A herd of sheep ambled by in a billowing cloud of dust. Ana squinted against the rays of the Mesopotamian sun and raised her scarf to shield her nose from the pungent odors the sheep and their sun-ripened handlers…
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Off to Babylon
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Betrayal
Holy Week, Part 3 Tobiah was frustrated and elated at the same time. Frustrated because the crowds Jesus drew were so large Tobiah couldn’t get anywhere close. And elated because the crowds Jesus drew hung on his every word. In the days leading up to Passover, Jesus taught in the Temple, and the people were amazed at his teaching. Although they were afraid to show blatant support when Jesus called the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites and blind guides and whitewashed tombs, their excitement grew daily. Jesus’s fame spread like wildfire. Even when He turned over the tables of the money changers and called the Temple Court a den of thieves,…
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A Royal Welcome
Holy Week, Part 2 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” – Matthew 21:9 Tobiah’s lungs burned. Chest heaving, he held the stitch in his side. But none of that mattered. He’d run all the way to Jerusalem to warn Jesus, but how would he find him? Jerusalem was teeming with travelers who’d arrived for the Passover. When his gasping breaths eased until he could hear something other than wheezing, he turned toward the sound of joyous singing. A huge crowd surrounded the Fish Gate. They waved palm branches and sang the song traditionally sung when…
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A Pretender, or the Passover Lamb?
Holy Week, Part 1 The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people. – Luke 22:2 In the Advent story “The Tower of the Flock,” Tobiah was among the shepherds who saw the heavenly host praising God and singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.” He was among those who saw Jesus, the Savior, the Passover Lamb, on the night he was born. Thirty-three years later . . . Sunlight glinted off metal, announcing the approach of the Temple Guards. Of Simeon. Tobiah ground his teeth. Most days,…
